One official pointed out that Pimentel, rather than being a focused and disciplined criminal mastermind, was ?all over the place,? both in terms of his objectives and his tactics. For two years, the official acknowledged, ?The Police Department basically had an informant with this guy,? who carefully supervised him and, on previous performance, likely coached him on how to make a pipe bomb.

Whenever they need relief from a bad news cycle, the people who rule us always have at least a few patsies warming up in the bullpen. Few things provide a better PR boost than busting a phony terrorism plot.